The NPD Group reports the continued slowdown makes for six consecutive quarters of weak traffic.

Customer visits to restaurants and food outlets continued a negative path in the quarter ending June 30, according to The NPD Group. The decline marks six quarters in a row with no traffic growth, something The NPD Group reports the U.S. foodservice industry has not experienced since the Great Recession.

Family- and casual-dining concepts took the biggest hit, dropping 4 percent and 3 percent respectively compared to the same quarter a year ago, according to The NPD Group’s CREST data, which tracks daily restaurant usage.

Visits to quick-service restaurants, which maintain 83 percent of industry traffic, were flat for the quarter compared to the year prior. A few bright spots did emerge within the QSR segment. The hamburger category gained 13 million visits in the quarter versus the year prior and fast-casual traffic grew by 77 million incremental visits, according to The NPD Group.

Morning meals also continue to grow, albeit ever so slightly, up 1 percent versus the same quarter a year ago. The NPD Group gave credit to QSRs for the breakfast uptick.

Foodservice delivery also eked out a positive gain, up 2 percent. The four categories earning credit for that growth were QSR sandwich, QSR burger, midscale and Asian.

“Although there were a few performance bright spots this quarter, these visit occasions are not large enough to move the industry in a positive direction,” said Riggs.